


just to hide outside your door

by pxrsephoneofeden



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Deviates From Canon, Fluff without Plot, Hurt/Comfort, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Inspired by Music, Jealous Finny, Language of Flowers, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Secret Relationship, Teenage Ciel Phantomhive, Title from a Hozier Song, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Underage Drinking, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love, Victorian Attitudes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22117615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pxrsephoneofeden/pseuds/pxrsephoneofeden
Summary: every morning finny wakes up thinking about ciel, and every night he goes to bed wishing he wouldn’t.ciel watches finny and find himself plagued with dreams of a life where his gardener boy can finally be his
Relationships: Finnian/Ciel Phantomhive
Comments: 11
Kudos: 65





	1. Each night I ask the stars up above, Why must I be a teenager in love?

**Author's Note:**

> \- rarepair that i’d die for in a heartbeat
> 
> \- a little sad, a little fluffy, always sappy from yours truly ;)
> 
> \- if you’re feeling extra soft i’d recommend listening to the songs “From Eden” by Hozier, “A teenager in love” by Dion and the Belmonts, and “Blue” by Troye Sivan, as they were my inspiration for this fic

It could’ve just been the lighting in the parlor room, the way the mid-morning sun beamed ever so golden in from the window and bounced off his silver hair; It might’ve just been the fragrant candle lit just moments earlier, filling the room with a sweet saccharine breeze; It likely was just fate that their eyes would meet in this romanticized picture of serenity, but whatever it was, Finny cherished it for the rest of the day.

”Are you joining me for my morning read over my letters? Or are you going to go outside where you’re supposed to be?” The condescending smirk the younger male held sent Finny’s head spinning.

”Uh-Right, Right! I’ll be right out!”

Ciel watched the gangly gardener scurry away, like a puppy sent to fetch a toy, and he suddenly forgot the importance of whatever he was reading. This was their new ritual.

The youthful noble took a long swig if his tea and made his way over to a chair seated, just so, adjacently from the window, giving him a perfect view of the servant he was beginning to feel his most pleasant when around. He tried to stop himself from going red when Finny’s collarbone would pop out from his shirt, his skin being tanned and firm. He was transfixed by the way his sunshine colored hair flopped left and right as he paced along the magnanimous backyard.

Sebastian would inevitably interrupt his not-so-secret gazing to do something he quietly felt was of much less importance, and would impatiently wait for sundown for the boy to return indoors.

~

As springtime drew nearer, Finny was spending less time in the manor, the expansive garden outside needing his full attention. His skin was dewy and salmon pink every evening when he’d come in to devour a his only meal that day in the back servants quarters, Bard chuckling at his boyish appetite as he shoveled the leftover food down his throat. 

“You know, Sebastian isn’t gonna kill you if the backyard doesn’t look like a painting once April’s over with right?” The older man lit a cigarette as he laughed off Finny’s exhaustion.

”Yeah-“ He swallowed the rest of the savory chicken he’s been chewing. “-I just want it to look nice for the young lord! Maybe he’ll smile at it when he looks out the window when doing his work and get inspired to do better!” 

Bard listened haphazardly at his younger companion’s chirps about their adolescent employer. Mey-rin laughed from the sink that he sounded like a little girl daydreaming about their debutant courtships rather than a gardener doing charity for his boss. Finny grew a deeper shade of flush, excusing himself upstairs to his shared quarters and falling flat onto the mattress once he reached the bed.

Staring up at the wall, he tried to focus on anything he could to distract him from what vines of desperation were growing deep in his heart. Even the crack in the ceiling was starting to remind him at least offhandedly of his unrequited beau.

He closed his eyes, puffing out a defeated breath. Another day of only thinking about Ciel, perfect Ciel, perfect silver haired, stoic, willowy Ciel. His employer, the boy who saved his life, the boy he’d hated himself for growing a romantic obsession with.

All he’d ever heard of was the ‘perversion’ or the ‘sickness’ of people like him. Boys like him. He tried so hard to feel the way he felt for Ciel for the girls he’d see at the young lord’s parties. The womanly bodies and seductive pouts of the older maids and street whores intimidated him, the girlish giggles and budding chests of the feminine teen nobility made him feel nothing at all.

The only time he’d ever felt a feeling that drove a deep jolt of thunder into his heart was when Ciel looked at him with those cerulean eyes, his stern but innocent face, his smug little grin whenever he felt his best. He wanted nothing but innocent affectionate. He had no desire to hurt or even sully the fluorescent young adult, he merely wanted to adore him like a lord would his promised lady.

Finny felt helpless, he’d always heard the boys like him needed help, they were destined to hurt little boys, that they were sick and over-sexed, but he knew in his heart of hearts what he felt was lily pure.

He sleep another restless night, dreaming of embracing his boss like a lover, Ciel’s chin on his shoulder, his face buried in his neck, Finny could almost smell the aroma of herbal tea and parchment ink the boy carried with him wherever he went. His royal blue eyes pierced into Finny’s soul and left a burning need for the most simple of touches.

Rolling over and sighing defeatedly, he stalked downstairs and into the vast library near the parlor, trying to find anything he could read to trick his mind into dreaming of anyone, anything that could give him piece of mind that he wasn’t broken. He settled of a thin mauve book with a french title he couldn’t barely pronounce in his head. A pretty picture of daffodils soothes his worries anything impure could be lurking in it’s chapters. 

It didn’t take much reading for a very bad idea to enter his adoring mind and lock itself deep in his subconscious. He slammed the book shut, tucking it under his arm and crept outside to begin his unhinged plan of affection.

His work the next day was sloppy, Sebastian even yelled at him twice to stop cutting everything so short, or uneven. He was obviously quite sleep deprived, but what usually upset him to the bone didn’t affect him. As the sun was finally setting, he wiped a slick bead of sweat from his eyebrow arch and made his rounds to each section of the yard. He was on a mission, and he didn’t care how it might’ve appeared to the other servants, or if he was missing another meal.

~

Ciel picked aimlessly at his plate. It was a delectable cut of steak and Sebastian cooked it to perfection, pairing it with the best of sides even down to the wine. He just wasn’t in the mood to eat, he hadn’t been in the best of moods ever since the spring began setting in the countryside of England. He played his foul behavior off to Sebastian by simple asthmatic allergies, but in all truth, it was quite obviously because he wasn’t getting his daily tea time with his favorite servant.

When the snow lays a thick blanket over the yard, Finny’s job renders unable, and he spends a lot of time inside. This most recent winter, on a particularly bored day, a day where finny happened to be even more boyishly excited, a day where Ciel was longing for someone to make him feel human again, the teal headed boy offered a cup of tea to his gardener. 

This daily ritual of Ciel pretending he was annoyed by Finny whilst he spoke adoringly about the routine of everyday became quite quickly the reason Ciel wanted to wake up every day. He tried so very hard to hide the sweet and loving mood he’d get into as he and the sun haired male got closer and closer every white winter day, but sometimes to no avail.

He found himself fighting back defensiveness as Sebastian made the not-so-subtle remark to him that the general public was prone to shunning those with certain pervasive or sac-religious lifestyles after he took notice that his contracted spent more time wandering around the mansion talking to Finny than he did his actual fiancée.

The day the snow was melted enough for Finny to begin reconstruction on the garden for spring was coincidentally the same day Ciel found a frequent daydream plaguing him every time he went to work on something important.

Finny, with his lanky body, holding Ciel on his back running around the mansion, Ciel laughing like he felt he hadn’t in so long. The most concerning detail of this fantasy was that Ciel had both his eyes functional, and while he sometimes saw the other servants, Sebastian was no where to be found. Whether Finny was carrying him, they were walking hand in hand, or the most recent and scandalous one where they laid cuddled on the backyard grass in the sun, Ciel knew that he was dreaming of a world where Finny had saved him instead of Sebastian, and that they could live a free healing life. He pushed those thought down harder every day, but they just came back stronger.

After pretending to be enjoying another meal gone to waste, Ciel told Sebastian he just wanted to be alone for that night, dressing himself and tending to his own pre-night rituals. The demon reluctantly agreed, setting off to deliver letters Ciel wrote out that morning to business partners he couldn’t truthfully care less about.

Once in his room, Ciel immediately noticed a letter, and three flowers placed not-so inconspicuously at the middle of his bed. With a furrowed brow, his guy told him that this had to hold a certain aura of meaning, he picked up the letter hesitantly, and his face flushed a deep maroon upon seeing the contents.

A scribbled note detailing this mystery sender’s appreciation for Ciel was accompanied by a torn out page from a flower language book. Ciel looked intensely at the three flowers before deciphering their meaning.

A blooming golden sunflower held a meaning of adoration and loyalty, the agapanthus meant a sly ‘unrequited feelings’, and the baby’s breath strands let him know the sender was ‘pure of heart’ in their intentions. 

Ciel’s grin grew cheshire, he took a sharp breath in and made his way out to the garden, praying no one would see him or that Sebastian would happen to return at that exact moment.

~

Finny exited the servants bathroom, anxious and heart pounding in his chest. He’s scrubbed his whole body relentlessly to alleviate himself of the burned skin, as well as to give him a piece of mind that his embarrassment wasn’t apparent to those around him from his bodily coloring. 

He plopped onto the bed and turned to his nightstand, taking notice of a strange letter, a flower, and a torn page from the flower language dictionary.

He clasped a hand over his mouth to avoid gasping and waking up Bard, who slept in a bed just feet away from him. He dropped the flower on the ground and almost pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

”Dear secret admirer; 

I appreciate your very unsubtle attempts at gathering my attention. Fortunately for you, you’ve succeeded. I took the liberty of following in your footsteps by picking out my answer to your arrangement with a singular ambrosia, 

Always and privately, Ciel Phantomhive”

The “C” in Ciel was curled so elegantly that Finny almost forgot to read the flower dictionary page.

He fell back onto the bed in pure delight upon reading that an ambrosia flower, just so happened to mean: “Your love is reciprocated”


	2. I slithered here from Eden just to hide outside your door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> finny and ciel continue their secret communication via flowers, and it comes to a crashing climax when ciel decides he can’t bare the secrecy any longer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- hello! i’m back from the dead again :)  
> \- thank you all for the nice comments, they made me so happy to read   
> \- while i’m trying my best to do legitimate research to make their flower speaking accurate, unfortunately i was not born in the victorian era and do not know for certain if these flowers mean what they’re intended to in this story, so forgive any inaccuracies;)

“Hold still, my lord,” Sebastian mumbled firmly as he tried to smooth out the navy evening coat Ciel had reluctantly and haphazardly thrown on in attempts to make this party end as fast as possible.

His ever eccentric fiancée decided to throw a rather unnecessarily massive masquerade ball to welcome the summertime in England at Phantomhive Manor. As the years had progressed, the whimsical lady Midford had grown very popular in high society with her porcelain skin and ringlets of sandy blonde hair. Ciel has been told many a time by many drunken older men how lucky he was to have a bride so attractive.

Those comments made his stomach queasy for a number of reasons; He knew keeping bloodlines pure in aristocracy was of great importance, but he could only ever think of Lizzy as a sisterly figure, a relative, not someone he’d want in bed with him. His belly churned even more so at the concern that he just couldn’t seem to find her as enticing as everyone else around him seemed to.

He was aware of her beauty, her symmetrical face, her pale skin, large eyes, and shiny blonde hair. She was giggly and innocent, a devoted and loyal daughter, sister, and fiancée. She was fashionable, feminine, and seemed excited about being a future wife and homemaker to a rich noble. He just didn’t know if he really wanted said noble to be him.

Lizzy, women in general, people in general, bored him. He wanted one person and one person only. Finnian.

For weeks they continued their little game of small talk in the parlor room, locking eyes at dinner, and hearing each other’s true thoughts through beautiful flowers. As Sebastian rebuttoned his coat, Ciel fought back a hard blush thinking of the delicate white camellias left on his pillow by his secret beau meaning, “You’re adorable”.

They were a response to Ciel’s playful white clovers he’d left in the greenhouse by Finny’s gloves holding the meaning of “Please think of me”.

”Are you ready to escort Lady Elizabeth?” Sebastian’s question broke Ciel’s dreamy trance and he swallows hard, nodding his head in agreement but wishing he’d be struck dead on spot.

Lady Elizabeth was at the edge of the stair railing where it met the wall, concealing herself from the crowd until her grand entrance with her fiancé could be achieved. Her dress was a beautiful style mauve with black chiffon detailing. The dress was silk and was perhaps a little too low cut for the taste of the elder lady Midford. The sweetheart neckline of the bust accentuated her budding figure, and her waist had been cinched impossibly tiny. She had on a bright pink lipstick she saved for the most extravagant of parties, and her mask was black chiffon matching her dress woven to look like lace. Ciel couldn’t help but think her exaggeratedly seductive appearance was more of a costume than the mask itself.

She smiled big at him as he approached from the far end of the hallway, Sebastian chuckled at the lack of discretion Ciel exercised taking in Elizabeth’s scandalous appearance. He gulped once again, forcing a smirk upon his lips to seem calm and normal.

”Don’t you just love my outfit!?” His affianced’s shrill voice was one thing he noticed, would likely never change. She grabbed his hands and practically bounced with glee as they prepared to enter the party. Sebastian cleared his throat and gave Ciel the signal to walk himself and Elizabeth to the center of the steps.

”The young lord, Ciel Vincent Phantomhive, and his beautiful fiancée, Miss Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford are proud to welcome you to the masquerade ball of the century!” Sebastian’s showy voice and prideful tone sent an eye roll through Ciel’s body. He was ready to grab her arm and whisk her down the steps so he could get the torture of social engagement over with, but his eye was caught.

From across the room, exiting the kitchen Finnian laughed at something Baldroy whispered to him as they carried our plates of cheese and meats as appetizers from the crowd. They’d made cheap-looking cloth masks but Ciel found it cute considering the surplus of expensive and overpriced fashion presented in his ballroom that evening.

Elizabeth’s voice stopped his gawking, and he awkwardly turned his head to look at her masked face, she chuckled and flinched, as if she was returning to her own persona of fake happiness.

”Shall we join them, or would you rather watch the servants pour wine all evening?” Her slight sarcasm earned her some respect in his book, but he knew he needed to begin his pretending for the evening. He smiled as warmly as he could muster and the pair floated down the steps arm in arm.

-

As the party was wrapping up very late in the evening, Ciel had found himself, frankly, drunk out of his wits. He’d used an unexpectedly strong wine to keep him from having to talk to the more annoying individuals that were too well trained to interrupt him as he drank. With every sip, he longed for Finny’s soft hand holding his own. His freckles scrunching up as he smiled at Ciel.

Finny, back in the kitchen watched nervously as Ciel poured himself another glass of the expensive alcohol Sebastian purchased for the guests. He inhaled sharply as a business partner of the Funtom Company laughed mockingly after the drunken teen.

Sebastian rolled his eyes as he mined more garnishes for the fruit plates, muttering rude comments about Ciel’s behavior as Mey-rin and Baldroy washed dishes uncomfortably.

Many guests began to leave around midnight, leaving only a few unwanted visitors and the very agitated Elizabeth Midford. Finny watched as she plopped down in her ginormous dress in the chair next to her intoxicated promised.

”You’re making an embarrassment of your name!” She whimpered. Finny wasn’t close enough to hear what he remarked back, but judging from the sigh that escaped Elizabeth’s mouth, it was just enough to save him from a public fight with his fiancée.

Ciel stumbled from the main hall into the hallway of the guest rooms. Unable to bear the thought of Ciel causing any harm to himself whilst intoxicated, he rushed from the kitchen and into the hallway, ignoring all stares from the other servants.

”Young master! Young master! Young- oh for christ’s sake, Ciel!” The mention of his name made the tipsy noble turn his whole body around to face Finny. He smiled goofily at the gardener, earning him a genuine laugh. He paced over to him and in his drunken state, forsake all care for appearance and wrapped his stalky arms around Finny’s waist, he rested his messy slate hair under his chin and sighed in happiness. Finny was walking on air.

The two stayed like this for a few seconds when the surprised gasp of Elizabeth Midford erupted a panic within Finny, he whipped his head around to see his lover’s fiancée looking confused as her beau had his body melted into that of his gardener, his cheeks flush and a deep smile etched into his mouth.

Finny hesitantly released his boss and walked over to Lizzy, looked pleadingly at her and said,

”He’s a little drunk is all! I was just trying to help-“

”Save it, Finnian.” The blonde woman looked back at Ciel and then right in Finny’s eyes.

”I’m going to trust that you can make sure he’ll be ok for the evening?” Her face was contorted in that of insincere concern. Finny nodded his head rapidly.

As Elizabeth made her way out of the hallway, Finny returned to Ciel’s side.

He placed his warm hand on the small of his back and hoisted his legs up to carry him bridal style. The pair laughed as Finny carried him to a guest bedroom.

Crawling into the immaculate bed, Ciel whines as Finny went to leave the room. The gardener turned back around to say good night, and Ciel grabbed him by his shoulders, pressing their lips together and holding him still. Finny ribbed the soft skin of Ciel’s ivory cheek and when the pair broke, a warmth like no other spread across his entire body.

He went to bed that night dreaming of kissing Ciel once again, but in a field of red salvias, for a promise of “forever”.


	3. on the outside always looking in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sebastian and grell discuss the future of a budding couple who believe they’re living in secrecy amongst the rest of the manor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- i’m sorry but my sebastian/grell heart just HAD to include that lil taste of romantic tension at the beginning before i got into the finny and ciel portion :)  
> \- i would love to add some more sebagrell into the storyline if that’s ok with you guys, if you’d rather it be focused 100% on ciel and finny that’s perfectly ok! just tell me in the comments   
> \- i’m thrilled by how many people have enjoyed reading this story as much as i have writing it whenever i can, i love you and i thank you to all the readers and commenters <3

His heightened sense of smell was both a blessing, ironically, and a curse whenever this particular creature seemed to come around.

An almost sickeningly sweet aroma of Rainier cherries and women’s face powder followed his non-admittedly favorite red reaper whenever she graced his presence. Today, Grell had on an always vibrant shade of rouge on her lips, cheeks, and the outer corners of her pointy eyelids, her hair was collected haphazardly in a side braid, that swung low and loose at her belly button. She adorned a deep wine-colored suit jacket that stopped at her knees, and semi-sheer tights giving off the tone that flirtations with her undeniably favorite demon were inevitable.

”Who’s soul needs taking, and please tell me it’s Baldroy.” Sebastian sighed as he picked up a dainty heliotrope petal off the ground leading into the back entrance to the manor, Finnian’s boyish smell radiating from it.

“Bassy, Bassy, Bassy, always so serious! I’ve just come to watch my favorite show before it comes to its untimely ending!” Grell fiddled with a loose strand of hair sticking out of her braid, locking eyes with Sebastian as he turned around and rubbed the petal between his fingers.

”I’m guessing you’re referring to-“ He dripped the petal and it flew into the wind, he moved his gaze up to the highest window of the manor where two male shadows could be seen sitting uncomfortably close, “-my young master and his new affinity for the gardener.” He tried to sound exasperated but his signature smirk peeked through his lips.

Grell chuckled faintly and removed a crisp mint green envelope from her coat. A silver wax seal of two doves carrying a skinny sword had been ripped through revealing a frilly yellow page inside. Sebastian chewed the inside of his cheek as Grell stalked around him cat-like.

”Bassy, I know you and I are of a different breed than the mortals we do often become entwined with, but you really must know you can’t keep ignoring this particular issue until your next meal is ready for his end? Don’t you?” Grell was now standing only centimeters from Sebastian, his pointed teeth showing themselves to her and she dropped the envelope on the ground. 

“If you think you’re going to get a rise out of me so you can meddle with this issue you’re mistaken, Grell.” He stayed as robotically as he could muster while Grell took his gloved hand and drew it to the top of her coat, guiding it until it reached the edge and together they yanked it off of her icy pale body. 

Beneath the red coat was a slinky, black cocktail dress that barely covered the upper part of her thighs, she untied the braid containing her hair, and the wind blew it forwards, attacking Sebastian with the womanly, cherry aroma once again.

He wasn’t quite sure when or how they ended up in the gardener’s shed, but he knew for a fact Grell’s pointed incisor sinking into his bottom lip was gonna need some assistance afterward to keep up the appearances that they were never in there, to begin with.

-

Ciel twirled the heliotrope bouquet in his left hand while the other was being almost squeezed half to death by Finny. His office had become their sanctuary. Their gentle pecks, needy hand holding, and highly exchanges of flowers that sometimes left Ciel feeling a little embarrassed by their vulnerability were all taking place within the walls of his place of ‘business’. 

Finny was getting tanner every day, he though silently as he watched his beau drone on about a nest of baby bluejays he’d saved that morning, and how proud he’d been to not smash them with his inhuman strength. Every few seconds Ciel glances to the large door.

”And they were just so-“ Finny caught his love taking an not-so discreet check to ensure their privacy, “-You know mister Sebastian is outside right? We’d hear him if he came running in!” He brushed a lock of silver hair from Ciel’s porcelain face.

”I’m well aware, It’s Elizabeth i’m worried about.” He placed his other hand atop the one Finny held his own with. Their faces were so close, and yet his heart beat was keeping him from initiating the forbidden kiss he’d wanted since the older boy came to visit him that day.

Finny closed the gap between their mouths and Ciel felt him smiling against his lips.

”I know she’d never understand this type of arrangement that’s why, Fin, I’m very much proud to say that I care deeply for you, but society isn’t quite ready for something like us to appear, they might call you a criminal, or me a pervert. It’s madness!” Ciel three jus hands up with air and Finnian rested his head on his shoulder, sighing as he knew good and well that they could likely never live together without keeping their live a secret.

”I just wish we could go off somewhere, I mean what’s holding us back from leaving this manor!” He stood up, locking eyes with Ciel, the only person he’d found himself so devoted and loyal too, his gathering of heliotropes he’d collected just for him dropped to the ground as he spoke that sentence.

”Are you mad!? What makes you think we could just up and leave we’d have nothing!” Ciel sounded more hateful than he intended to, he winced at his own voice as he finished talking.

”Who cares! I’d have you and I can build us a cabin somewhere, and we can grow all the flowers our hearts tell us to!” Finny knew he sounded crazy, he dropped to the floor as tears puddles in his eyes. Ciel moves off of the chair he’d been perched in to hold his love as he let out the frustration they’d both had since the night of their first, drunken, unplanned kiss.

”Finnian. I love you, hell, saying that terrifies me but I do! I’m not just going to give up on loving you just because we can’t run off and live on a flower farm in god knows where!” He chuckled as Finny looked back up at him, smiling weakly at his own madness being spoken back to him.

”I just want you, Ciel, and I know that having you means I’ll always have to see you holding onto a woman you never loved, walking beside a man who cares more for your status and the manor cleanliness than our happiness, and having to have children I know you don’t want.” Ciel chuckled once again, as his eyebrows furrowed downwards, he wanted to cry, because if only Finny really knew how grim their future was.

He’d rather live an unhappy eternity with Elizabeth, having private, hidden kisses and embraces with Finny, holding his kids he’ll have to suck it up to produce, and continuing to treck his way through the grim underworld for the Queen’s sanity, than to have Sebastian take his soul likely within the next two years.

He’d grown so much resentment towards Sebastian he almost felt guilty. He’d called him, he’d treated him so slave-like, and given him such a weighty task to accomplish all for one measly soul, and now he was supposed to reveal to him that he didn’t want to die? It was infuriating to himself, he couldn’t imagine how angry Sebastian would be if he were to ever tell him.

His disdain to his immortal servant wasn’t the only thing that pushed heavily on his heartstrings lately however, unbeknownst to Finnian, or anyone in the manor apart from himself and Sebastian for that manner, Lady Midford had unexpectedly, and unadvisedly moved their nuptials up to the next month, rather than the next year. 

Ciel didn’t want to approach the subject of he reasoning, but he knew gravely that she must’ve known something about his affections with his gardener after his intoxicated stupidity at his last gala. He didn’t question her decision for his own safety in his aristocratic society, but he knew he was bound to break Finny’s heart by not at least attempting to stop it.

\- 

“You need to leave, now!” Sebastian had had enough. Grell, after their unplanned second affair, the first one being on the boat of the Atlantic ship, had been following him aimlessly around the manor as he cleaned, making comments about their plans after he takes that ‘brat’s’ soul.

”Why so mean! I thought you enjoyed my presence considering your excitement to take me to bed, ha, or should I say, the shed!” She spoke with an unhinged passive-aggression, she was bored and wanted something to play with, he knew it, but he couldn’t help himself from giving in.

”You look like a common whore in that dress, your cosmetics all smudged, and following me around like that makes you look even trashier. A lovesick, common, rattled, whore house worker.” He’d grabbed her arm and whispered it in her ear with such a silk-like tone she’d almost excused it’s insulting.

”Hey! I’m not the one who started it... this time.” She crossed her arms and puffed out a breath of air, then moving to bend down to look in the spotless reflection of a glass plate Sebastian toted on a tray, “Well, you could’ve at least told me my mascara was running at the side!” 

He chuckled at her ridiculousness. She returned it with a loving smirk, raising an eyebrow and moving to peck his cheek before he could walk away from her.

”You love, just admit it, Sebastian. If you do, I might let you dance with me at the wedding!”

”Grell, i’ll admit I think you’re fun to toy with, but love is pushing it.” He winked and her heart fluttered a million times, she bit her bottom lip and said a simple goodbye before trotting out of the manor, not even paying attention to the wedding invitation she was dropping on the floor, as it leaped from her poorly retied suit jacket.

-

Finny left the kitchen and strolled down the long hallway towards the stairs to get to the servants quarters. Ciel was having a dinner he’d told him countlessly he wasn’t in the mood to have, with someone he’d mentioned endlessly he couldn’t stand.

Finny was beginning to think of his perpetual hatred for almost everyone apart from himself and Sebastian as cute, worryingly so.

He almost tripped once he reached the final doorway leading to the stairs, a mint green envelope as the culprit of his sliding on the floor. Curiously he picked it up, examining the obvious nobility that lived in the already torn seal. He assumed it was a letter addressed to Ciel, and wrongly he wanted to see what was inside.

His breathing halted upon skimming the top lines of the girlish handwriting on the lemon-yellow page inside the envelope.

’The wedding of one Ciel Phantomhive and Elizabeth Midford’

His heart was pounding as he skipped the rest to get to the dates at the very bottom. A tear stained the left corner of the page once he read that the marriage was now scheduled for eleven months ahead of when he was preparing to deal with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- i’m so sorry for the angst, i just had to include a little bit of it to keep the story going!


	4. i’ve been working on a cocktail, called “grounds for divorce”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the long awaited wedding of ciel and elizabeth midford has arrived and finny races to devise a plan to keep his love all to himself. 
> 
> meanwhile, behind the scenes, grell and sebastian handle some unexpected issues as catastrophe draws nearer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- yes hi i know ive been gone a while and once again i am sorry  
> \- i’m adding sebagrell because i can and because i love grell sm

“Touch that plate and I will obliterate you.” Sebastian snapped as the extravagant redhead creeping up behind him reached her hand around his body to take an appetizer sample from one of the many dishes being served at tonight’s reception

”Touchy! What’s got you all worked up Bassy? Your culinary skills are being put on full display today and i’m sure there’ll be praise for it.” Her tone, dramatic as always softened him as much as he hated to admit it.

”Perhaps my mood can be attributed to the fact that my young master’s afiancéd is expecting a picture perfect wedding, and Ciel couldn’t barely keep a falsified interest in anything she had to say last night at the rehearsal dinner. He’s much too preoccupied with-“

”The gardener?” He turned around to face her, rolling his eyes in annoyance much to her pleasure. She loved being a bystander to the craziness if it meant she didn’t have to handle any of it herself.

~  
  


“Im genuinely at a loss at the moment-“

”You’re at a loss? I thought you said this was getting shut down! You promised me Ciel!”

”I never promised anything, Fin. It’s out of my hands!” His voice was shaky as he faced the unusually dressed up gardener, he tried his best not to take note of how Finny’s lanky limbs and sun brushed skin looked absolutely enticing in his suit. He couldn’t look him in his eyes. 

Finny felt a tear run down his cheek. He sucked his front tooth and muttered to himself.

”Guess i’ll just go trim the hedges outside, wouldn't want to anger the queen.” He pushed out that last line with an out of character aggression, Ciel inhaled sharply, shutting his eyes to keep himself from marching right up to Finny and crashing his lips onto his and lying that everything would turn out fine.

Finny took long strides steps, he heard eve single time his feet hit the creaking stairs, he put his head down onto his desk and only sat back up when the door clocked open once again.

There stood his undeniably beautiful fiancée, her hair plaited and wrapped around her head in an intricate bun style, her white dress not yet having adorned her body. He furrowed his eyebrows at her as she tiptoed over to him, looking back over her shoulder to make sure she hadn’t been followed.

“I thought you’d strictly told me last evening I wasn’t to see you until later tonight?”

”Save it, we only have a few minutes to come to an agreement on something.”

Her breasts spilled out of her night dress and he knew any other man would be kicking themselves if they weren’t attracted to her. He knew she was gorgeous, her golden hair and chirpy voice, not to mention her well formed figure, but he still had no desires for any woman, even ones as genetically blessed by Aphrodite herself as she was.

”I do believe we may be thinking of the exact same situation.”

”My dearest Ciel, was always the best at reading my mind, but funny thing is, Astre-“

His eyes widened harder than they’d ever done before and his throat went slack.

“- I don’t recall you having that same ability.”

~  
  


Grell was a sight at the wedding. Sebastian had to mentally pinch himself every time the flamboyant reaper walked past him in her scantily clad evening wear that’d make even the most immodest of street walkers turn heads. Her milky pale skin and devilish smile making him lose all but a sliver of his servantly self control.

He chuckled to himself as more and more of the Midford family began to question why she was there to begin with.

She followed him around relentlessly, flashing her kohl darkened eyes at him, whispering how she’d like to get him alone, and quite frankly, it was beginning to work.

Setting down the last arrangement of white gardenias near the makeshift alter in the backyard, he grabbed her wrist and practically dragged her out of the eye line of guests.

”You think it’s quite funny to do this to me while I’m trying to ensure this goes off without a hitch?”

”The brats gonna be a runaway groom anyhow you might as well have some fun before it all goes to shit.”

~  
  


Finny didn’t intend on walking in on Sebastian mid-coitus, but it certainly wasn’t the worst thing that had happened to him that day.

”Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry!” His monstrous strength ripped the top hinge of the door clean off as he scurried away from a sight he’d wish to never see again.

He wasn’t able to hide in the kitchen much longer until Sebastian inevitably came in to confront him.

”Finny get out here this instant.” He rose like he was incapable to stopping his body from hiding from the vampiric butler before him.

”I didn’t mean to open the door! I didn’t see any- Well I didn’t see much I just-“

”I could care less about what you just saw me doing in that guest room I need to know where the young master is!”

”He’s missing?”

”Dont be coy, i’m not stupid I know what’s been going on and if you’ve had anything to do with this-“

The kitchen door busted open to reveal a surprising intruder. Elizabeth walked cautiously over to the bickering servants holding a bouquet of ferns and filberts. An odd arrangement but the bride-to-be smiled nonetheless.

”Well hello Sebastian! I haven’t seen you all morning! I know you’ve been running around to make everything perfect for me and I do appreciate that. Could you please go fetch my mother for me?” Her bird-like voice stung the man’s ear but he gritted a smile and nodded to confirm she had no suspicions of what was truly going on.

Once he left the kitchen, Elizabeth’s posture slacked and grabbed Finny by his shirt to pull him in closer.

”Take these and be upstairs in just a minutes time, I don’t have any seconds left to explain, I’ve got a part to play just as you two do.” She whispered so faintly he barely heard her, and with the last word of her sentence she was scurrying out the door, her shoulders being pressed down and a pageantry-esque smile painted her lips.

Finny looked down at the flowers before him, and he gasped in pure disbelief.

The ferns and filberts immediately ringing a bell in him mind reminiscent of a book he’d be ashamed to say he’d read cover to cover.

”Reconciliation, and a secret bond of romance.”

~  
  


5:30pm could not have come quicker, Sebastian puffed out an exhausted breath as guests finally seated themselves in the rows of white chairs he'd tediously aligned that morning. Elizabeth’s friends began their march down the aisle as Bard played a shaky version of some human wedding song that his ears burn. He smirked upon meeting eyes with Grell, her wine colored evening gown a little more wrinkled than before.

Ciel had barely looked at any guest as he made his way to the end of the alter, but Sebastian got a strange aura from the room as Ciel looked directly at him and fought back a mischievous smile form his mouth, his arms clasped behind his back and a filbert from bouquet he’d seen Elizabeth carrying around just a little while earlier was tucked into his suit pocket.

When the time finally arose for Elizabeth to be guided to Ciel, she smiled beamingly, but having known the young women for much of her adolescence, he took notice her toothy grin was about as false and phony as a counterfeit bill.

Vows exchanged and an awkward, noting you’d look twice at, kiss was shared. Some men looked away disappointedly and the women sighed in adoration of the young aristocrats.

They practically sprinted down the aisle to get inside, Sebastian and Bard taking their cue to clean up the yard as guests filed into the ballroom.

He turned his head to look over at the newlyweds and decided that something had most definitely happened right under his nose.

Elizabeth chuckled and whispered something to Ciel, who merely mumbled a ‘That settles it then’ before winking and returning to his masked face of fake enjoyment, Elizabeth’s doing the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- if you ever thought lizzie was gonna be a villain you were MISTAKEN i love my queen

**Author's Note:**

> • to clarify: Ciel is around 16-17 in this and finny is close to 19-20, i don’t write age gap fics including minors, all relationships i write have legal age gaps :)
> 
> • i am in no way homophobic nor do i share the beliefs in regards to sexuality expressed by any characters in this fic, i included the internalized homophobia aspect for historical accuracy


End file.
